Living to make much of Jesus

The Minefield of My Own Thoughts

they do not recognize a stranger’s voice…(John 10:5).

Have you ever played the game, Minefield? It’s some wacky youth group game where students are challenged to put on a blindfold as they maneuver their way from one end of the room to the other dodging chairs and other things along the way that mimics a minefield.

The only way they can get from one side of the room to the other is to listen intently for their partner’s voice. The challenging thing is that there are many other voices going off at the exact same time. Therefore, they must first listen very carefully for their partner’s voice before moving forward. If they don’t, they’ll be sure to hit a “mine” and be sent back to the beginning.

I have spent a lot of my life walking through a minefield of my own thoughts. Some thoughts have caused great destruction in my life where others have caused effects that haven’t been as catastrophic but still have brought their own pain and consequences.

You see, my problem was that I didn’t listen intently for God’s voice before I started stepping forward. Honestly, in my own immaturity, I took steps convincing myself that this has to be what God wants. All the while, the Lord is shouting, but I’m not listening to His voice. Instead, I listened to the crowd of voices in my heart and mind.

Now, I have to challenge myself, daily, to take a step back and ask myself some very important questions. Where are these thoughts coming from? Are they rooted in things like fear, control, pride or shame? If that’s the case I have to stop myself and yield once more to the voice of God. Can I be really honest, sometimes it’s hard to hear His voice when you’ve been following the wrong ones for a long time. Yet, the more I yield, persevere, and memorize Scripture, the more I hear His voice amongst the crowd of my own thoughts.

I really think God wants to take us on this grand adventure, but we’ve settled for our own idea of what God’s story is supposed to look like. Therefore, we miss out on the blessing and the opportunity for God to make something beautiful out of our story. Now, I want nothing more than to hear His voice and allow it to guide me as I navigate my way through life. You see, only Jesus can take someone like me, with a messy life and a daily need for grace and use me for Kingdom work. He’s just that awesome, so today, I’ll go in blindfolded and won’t take a step until I hear my Father say, “come.”

Lord, I long to hear your voice among the crowd. Forgive me for how I have strayed. Forgive me for the times I didn’t follow you because I was afraid or prideful. Lord, please grow up my heart and my strength in you. I long to hear your voice and then walk in obedience to it, in Jesus name, Amen.